Does A Uv Light Effect Fish

[mosfet]

Hi all,

Just wanted your opinions on this. I have been told different stories by different people. I have a fish tank and it came with a low watt blue UV light (previous owner kept terrapins). It lights up the tank nicely but is it harmful to fish. Some people have said it will be fine and actually help the living plants. Other have said its the wrong spectrum but not really given a reason why this would affect the fish. Any thoughts?

Cheers

 

[ab420]

Hi all,

Just wanted your opinions on this. I have been told different stories by different people. I have a fish tank and it came with a low watt blue UV light (previous owner kept terrapins). It lights up the tank nicely but is it harmful to fish. Some people have said it will be fine and actually help the living plants. Other have said its the wrong spectrum but not really given a reason why this would affect the fish. Any thoughts?

Cheers

The blue light will not benefit plants at all, it is the wrong spectrum... as for harming the fish: there have been many studies on UV radiation and its effects on fish, and they all lead to the conclusion that UV light is bad for fish. Fish can in fact gets subnurns too from UV radiation. Even if the light isn't strong enough to physically hurt them, it will in most cases stress them out, leaving them more prone to disease.

So... it's just not worth it. If you want a nice blue glow in the tank that REALLY makes the colors of the fish pop out, get an actinic 420 bulb, they are safe. If that's too blue for you, get a 50/50 bulb, which is half 10,000k (very white) and half actinic (blue).

However, if you're growing live plants in there, you will need specialized lighting for that.